Article Version of Record

Narrowing the early mathematics gap: A play-based intervention to promote low-income preschoolers’ number skills

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Scalise, Nicole R.
Daubert, Emily N.
Ramani, Geetha B.

Abstract / Description

Preschoolers from low-income households lag behind preschoolers from middle-income households on numerical skills that underlie later mathematics achievement. However, it is unknown whether these gaps exist on parallel measures of symbolic and non-symbolic numerical skills. Experiment 1 indicated preschoolers from low-income backgrounds were less accurate than peers from middle-income backgrounds on a measure of symbolic magnitude comparison, but they performed equivalently on a measure of non-symbolic magnitude comparison. This suggests activities linking non-symbolic and symbolic number representations may be used to support children’s numerical knowledge. Experiment 2 randomly assigned low-income preschoolers (Mean Age = 4.7 years) to play either a numerical magnitude comparison or a numerical matching card game across four 15 min sessions over a 3-week period. The magnitude comparison card game led to significant improvements in participants’ symbolic magnitude comparison skills in an immediate posttest assessment. Following the intervention, low-income participants performed equivalently to an age- and gender-matched sample of middle-income preschoolers in symbolic magnitude comparison. These results suggest a brief intervention that combines non-symbolic and symbolic magnitude representations can support low-income preschoolers’ early numerical knowledge.

Keyword(s)

numerical knowledge early mathematics low-income interventions

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2018-01-30

Journal title

Journal of Numerical Cognition

Volume

3

Issue

3

Page numbers

559–581

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Scalise, N. R., Daubert, E. N., & Ramani, G. B. (2018). Narrowing the early mathematics gap: A play-based intervention to promote low-income preschoolers’ number skills. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 3(3), 559–581. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v3i3.72
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Scalise, Nicole R.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Daubert, Emily N.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Ramani, Geetha B.
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-21T11:42:51Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-21T11:42:51Z
  • Date of first publication
    2018-01-30
  • Abstract / Description
    Preschoolers from low-income households lag behind preschoolers from middle-income households on numerical skills that underlie later mathematics achievement. However, it is unknown whether these gaps exist on parallel measures of symbolic and non-symbolic numerical skills. Experiment 1 indicated preschoolers from low-income backgrounds were less accurate than peers from middle-income backgrounds on a measure of symbolic magnitude comparison, but they performed equivalently on a measure of non-symbolic magnitude comparison. This suggests activities linking non-symbolic and symbolic number representations may be used to support children’s numerical knowledge. Experiment 2 randomly assigned low-income preschoolers (Mean Age = 4.7 years) to play either a numerical magnitude comparison or a numerical matching card game across four 15 min sessions over a 3-week period. The magnitude comparison card game led to significant improvements in participants’ symbolic magnitude comparison skills in an immediate posttest assessment. Following the intervention, low-income participants performed equivalently to an age- and gender-matched sample of middle-income preschoolers in symbolic magnitude comparison. These results suggest a brief intervention that combines non-symbolic and symbolic magnitude representations can support low-income preschoolers’ early numerical knowledge.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Scalise, N. R., Daubert, E. N., & Ramani, G. B. (2018). Narrowing the early mathematics gap: A play-based intervention to promote low-income preschoolers’ number skills. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 3(3), 559–581. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v3i3.72
    en_US
  • ISSN
    2363-8761
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1279
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1471
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v3i3.72
  • Keyword(s)
    numerical knowledge
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    early mathematics
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    low-income
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    interventions
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Narrowing the early mathematics gap: A play-based intervention to promote low-income preschoolers’ number skills
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    3
  • Journal title
    Journal of Numerical Cognition
  • Page numbers
    559–581
  • Volume
    3
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record